


i'll cut your neck if you get too near

by gacrux



Category: Neon Genesis Evangelion
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-31
Updated: 2013-12-31
Packaged: 2018-01-06 19:56:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 825
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1110902
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gacrux/pseuds/gacrux
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Shinji is nowhere to be found; Asuka runs into Rei.</p>
            </blockquote>





	i'll cut your neck if you get too near

**Author's Note:**

> i've no idea how/when this happens. i just want rei to look out for her angry girl. title from the fantastic song prairie girl by rah rah.

She seethes and shakes and feels like she's been overtaken by the exhilarating rush of adrenaline. She's so _angry_ about everything and doesn't know how to stop it. Asuka prowls on, favouring her left foot by only a slight increment. A little while ago she kicked a dent into her bedroom wall, probably nearly broke her foot, but she can't feel it now even if her body is reacting to it.

 

Her hands are balled into tight fists; her nails are biting into the skin of her palm. She's cut open her skin there by accident, but she can't feel that either.

 

Asuka scowls and tries to think but she can't – she can't. Her lips are bitten and pulled back in a wolfish snarl, daring, challenging anyone to approach her. She could kill them, she thinks, she could kill them and she wouldn't feel a single thing about it. Not now. Maybe not ever. She could be a monster. She could be a monster just like -

  

But there's no one here. It's a deserted hallway, empty of everything but a vending machine that's still too far away to put a hole in.

 

Asuka's shaking. She feels lightheaded, but she charges on anyway. She thinks she's near Shinji's room, but maybe she's not. Maybe she was once, but she's not now. She doesn't give a damn anyway, he's not here. He's gone. She couldn't care less, because he left, he's gone, just like -

 

She's at the vending machine now, sweating just a little but still shaking furiously. Asuka stares at it, eyes wide and reckless, and swings her fist. It smashes straight through and for a minute she stares at the blood dripping off her knuckles, hardly blinking, not even breathing.

 

Her first instinct is to scream, roar, pull her fist back and swing again. But she doesn't do any of those things because she can't breathe and she can't pull her hand out from the hole she made with it, and she can feel the burn setting in finally. The adrenaline is still hissing through her like hot steam; she can feel it. The pain overpowers it.

 

She's still shaking.

 

When she looks up, back the way she came, she sees the First standing a few feet away. Smartly out of reach and observing her coolly, objectively, like Asuka's some kind of bizarre experiment to her. Knowing Ayanami, that's probably exactly how she classifies her. What a creep.

 

She wants to tell her that, or tell her to fuck right off, but what comes out initially is much less threatening.

 

 “What do you want?” Is what she asks, voice solid and low.

 

 Ayanami tilts her head ever so slightly and says, “Nothing.”

 

 “Then why,” Asuka bites out, “are you just _standing there._ Fuck off.”

 

 First stares at her, and the stare migrates to where Asuka's fist remains embedded in the vending machine. She's trying to make a point. Asuka doesn't care.

 

 And the adrenaline is rushing again.

 

She reels back, making to remove her fist from the glass while the opportunity is there, but she can't because the First is in her space, holding her wrist still where it shakes against the glass.

 

“Get off me!” Asuka snaps, pushing her away, but Ayanami stands her ground.

  

“You may damage your wrist further.” The girl warns. Asuka makes to pull back again, or maybe push Rei away, but she's surprisingly sturdy. With grace, she guides Asuka's wrist back and out from the glass she landed it in and then examines it with casual ease. “I believe some of your fingers are broken.”

 

Asuka stares hard at the wall over Ayanami's shoulder, willing her to leave. She knows she probably broke her stupid fingers. She's not an idiot. She just doesn't care.

 

But instead of leaving, the First speaks again and says, “Please accompany me to the medical bay.”

 

“Like hell I will.” Asuka turns on a dime and gets as far as a step away before it becomes apparent that Ayanami still hasn't released her wrist. The hold is so gentle, so feather-light that she hardly notices, but when she goes to take her hand back Asuka finds the grasp firm and a little painful.

 

“This way.” Rei utters, leading her nonchalantly down the hallway and maintaining a steadfast grip on Asuka's bloodied wrist.

  

They walk in turbulent silence. Asuka's limp is more pronounced and Rei's pace slows every time she stumbles for a step. When Asuka's hand starts to throb and she twists it restlessly, Rei smooths the pad of her thumb over the inside of Asuka's wrists and lets her grip go slack. It helps a little to ease the pressure.

 

If she hears Asuka's faint, resentful sobs, she says nothing; but she does close her eyes when they get to the medical bay and she gives Asuka a moment to gather her pieces before they march in like the trapped soldiers they are.

 


End file.
